Revolving around the fight for control over a martial arts school, Code of Honour pulls us into the struggles and battles for the ownership of the Yuan clan and its heirloom, the “Jade Dragon”. Fans of Hong Kong dramas will find the storyline built around the trials of a martial arts school reminiscent of TVB’s drama, Grace Under Fire, where Master Wong Fei-hung faces threats and attacks against his school.

In Code of Honour, the Yuan martial arts association, under the direction of Master Yuan Zhen Fei (Zheng Ge Ping), is facing many internal conflicts. Conspiring to overthrow his leadership, his ambitious disciples, Duan Tian He (Zhang Wen Xiang) and Ou Jian Feng (Andie Chen) put the future of the Yuan clan in danger of destruction.

Expelled for creating discord within the school, an enraged Jian Feng decides to plant his sister, Ou Ke Lu (Rui En) as a spy to gather information from the clan. Seeing through her brother’s motives, Ke Lu decides to oppose him instead, for the sake of good.

After his only son, Chen Xi, (Elvin Ng) died in an accident, Zhen Fei worries about the succession of his life’s work until he meets Song Ya Zai (also played by Elvin Ng), who is a spitting image of his deceased son. A worker at a fishery, Ya Zai has grown up adopting a peaceful perspective in life, preferring not to partake in fights for fame and glory.

With the ongoing struggles of the martial arts world, romance comes into play as well. After losing her love interest Chen Xi to the accident, Ke Lu finds herself falling for his replica, Ya Zai. A love triangle forms between Ke Lu, Ya Zai, and his sweetheart from the fishery, Long Wan Yi (Chris Tong).

With the future of a renowned martial arts clan possibly falling on his shoulders, what decisions will Ya Zai make and how will it affect the martial arts world?

Produced by Yeo Saik Pin and written by Koh Teng Liang, Code of Honour is a 30-episode drama serial from MediaCorp Channel 8. The show, themed around Chinese Wushu, will feature more than 100 fighting scenes to pump up the adrenaline in viewers.

Chinese Wushu is no easy feat, requiring years of training to perfect the traditional art. And with so many worthy and lush productions coming out from Hong Kong and China over decades, the bar is kept very high. For the actors and actresses, however, it meant learning it fast and executing it perfectly for the camera.

To Rui En, who had wielded her fists in many action dramas such as Unriddle and Metamorphosis, it came as a shock when she discovered that she knew nothing about Chinese Wushu. “We only had 3 or 4 trainings before filming and learned most of the moves on location,” she revealed.

Elvin had to play as the big brother who knew his place as the next successor, as well as the younger brother who grew up away from the conflicts. The differences between the 2 characters and their fighting styles came as a challenge for him.

“The older brother practices Chinese Wushu, which is gentler in style, while the younger brother practices Thai boxing, which is more extreme,” Elvin explained.

Martial arts choreography wasn’t all that the actors and actresses needed to learn. Meticulous details come to play in filming for the screens as well. “There is a big difference between real Wushu and Wushu on film,” Andie Chen commented.

“It’s not only about doing it correctly, you must get the right angle and exert the right amount of strength as well,” he explained.

A breath of fresh air from local dramas of late, Code of Honour is a must-watch with its nostalgic locations in Malaysia and well-crafted fighting scenes.

Code of Honour debuts on Dec 5 and runs every Mon to Fri at 7pm on MediaCorp’s Channel 8.